This schlieren image dramatically displays the shock wave of a supersonic jet flying over the Mojave Desert. Researchers used NASA-developed image processing software to remove the desert background, then combined and averaged multiple frames to produce a clear picture of the shock waves.

And …

NASA is using a 21st century version of schlieren imagery, invented by a German physicist in 1864, to visualize supersonic flow phenomena with full-scale aircraft in flight.

The agency is doing more than making cool photos though. Here’s some of what it had to say in a writeup:

NASA researchers in California are using a modern version of a 150-year-old German photography technique to capture images of shock waves created by supersonic airplanes. Over the past five years scientists from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base and Ames Research Center at Moffett Field have teamed up to demonstrate how schlieren imagery, invented in 1864 by German physicist August Toepler, can be used to visualize supersonic flow phenomena with full-scale aircraft in flight. The results will help engineers to design a quiet supersonic transport. Although current regulations prohibit unrestricted overland supersonic flight in the United States, a clear understanding of the location and relative strength of shock waves is essential for designing future high-speed commercial aircraft.

<b>A Portrait of Global Winds</b>
High-resolution global atmospheric modeling provides a unique tool to study the role of weather within Earth’s climate system. NASA’s Goddard Earth Observing System Model (GEOS-5) is capable of simulating worldwide weather at resolutions as fine as 3.5 kilometers.
This visualization shows global winds from a GEOS-5 simulation using 10-kilometer resolution. Surface winds (0 to 40 meters/second) are shown in white and trace features including Atlantic and Pacific cyclones. Upper-level winds (250 hectopascals) are colored by speed (0 to 175 meters/second), with red indicating faster.
This simulation ran on the Discover supercomputer at the NASA Center for Climate Simulation. The complete 2-year “Nature Run” simulation—a computer model representation of Earth's atmosphere from basic inputs including observed sea-surface temperatures and surface emissions from biomass burning, volcanoes and anthropogenic sources—produces its own unique weather patterns including precipitation, aerosols and hurricanes. A follow-on Nature Run is simulating Earth’s atmosphere at 7 kilometers for 2 years and 3.5 kilometers for 3 months.
<a href="http://www.nas.nasa.gov/SC13/demos/demo23.html#prettyPhoto" target="_blank">Learn more.</a> less

<b>A Portrait of Global Winds</b>
High-resolution global atmospheric modeling provides a unique tool to study the role of weather within Earth’s climate system. NASA’s Goddard Earth Observing System ... more

Photo: William Putman/NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

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<b>Magnetic Carpet on the Sun</b>
Image: “Magnetic carpet” on the Sun, simulated with the parallel 3D radiative magnetohydrodynamic code SolarBox using NASA’s Pleiades supercomputer. The “carpet” consists of small-scale magnetic fields generated by turbulent dynamo action just beneath the solar surface. This image shows a sample of magnetic field lines forming magnetic loops, with footpoints in the solar photosphere (horizontal wavy surface) at a temperature of 6,400 kelvins. Orange-red patches on the surface show concentrations of the magnetic field (color intensity is proportional to field strength).
The realistic simulations of the solar interior and atmosphere reproduce and explain the small-scale dynamo process on the Sun, and help us understand the problem of magnetic field generation, the effects of back-reaction of magnetic patches on surrounding flows, the formation and evolution of the “magnetic carpet,” and its energetic and dynamical links with the turbulent environment of the solar surface and atmosphere. Likewise, realistic computer models of the structure and dynamics of the small-scale magnetic fields allow us to better understand the dramatic changes of near-surface magnetoconvection during the processes of magnetic flux emergence and mass eruptions. We also use this knowledge to interpret data from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, Hinode, and IRIS missions.
Our simulations clearly demonstrate:
The small-scale dynamo process on the Sun is turbulent in nature.
The local dynamo process has the strongest efficiency in subsurface layers of the convective zone, just beneath the visible surface.
Small-scale dynamo action results in the amplification of magnetic fields from an extremely weak initial strength of 10-2 – 10-6 Gauss to stronger than 1,000 Gauss.
Realistic modeling of the magnetic carpet's small-scale dynamics allows us to better understand the dramatic changes of the near-surface magnetoconvection, associated with solar eruptions.
<a href="http://www.nas.nasa.gov/SC13/demos/demo16.html#prettyPhoto" target="_blank">Learn more.</a> less

<b>Magnetic Carpet on the Sun</b>
Image: “Magnetic carpet” on the Sun, simulated with the parallel 3D radiative magnetohydrodynamic code SolarBox using NASA’s Pleiades supercomputer. The “carpet” ... more

<b>Magnetic Carpet on the Sun</b>
Image from a simulation of magnetic structures formed by a turbulent dynamo on the Sun, generated from an initial 10-6 Gauss random seed field. The blue-red color scale corresponds to magnetic field strength from -300 to 300 Gauss. A typical size of the magnetic structures is 100 to 300 kilometers.
The realistic simulations of the solar interior and atmosphere reproduce and explain the small-scale dynamo process on the Sun, and help us understand the problem of magnetic field generation, the effects of back-reaction of magnetic patches on surrounding flows, the formation and evolution of the “magnetic carpet,” and its energetic and dynamical links with the turbulent environment of the solar surface and atmosphere. Likewise, realistic computer models of the structure and dynamics of the small-scale magnetic fields allow us to better understand the dramatic changes of near-surface magnetoconvection during the processes of magnetic flux emergence and mass eruptions. We also use this knowledge to interpret data from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, Hinode, and IRIS missions.
Our simulations clearly demonstrate:
The small-scale dynamo process on the Sun is turbulent in nature.
The local dynamo process has the strongest efficiency in subsurface layers of the convective zone, just beneath the visible surface.
Small-scale dynamo action results in the amplification of magnetic fields from an extremely weak initial strength of 10-2 – 10-6 Gauss to stronger than 1,000 Gauss.
Realistic modeling of the magnetic carpet's small-scale dynamics allows us to better understand the dramatic changes of the near-surface magnetoconvection, associated with solar eruptions.
<a href="http://www.nas.nasa.gov/SC13/demos/demo16.html#prettyPhoto" target="_blank">Learn more.</a> less

<b>Magnetic Carpet on the Sun</b>
Image from a simulation of magnetic structures formed by a turbulent dynamo on the Sun, generated from an initial 10-6 Gauss random seed field. The blue-red color scale ... more

<b>Magnetic Carpet on the Sun</b>
Image: A 3D structure of the Sun's magnetic field lines, above and below the solar photosphere, which is shown as a horizontal surface. The color patches represent magnetic elements of positive and negative polarities.
<a href="http://www.nas.nasa.gov/SC13/gallery.html#prettyPhoto[cat-universe]/9/" target="_blank">Watch the movie</a>
<a href="http://www.nas.nasa.gov/SC13/demos/demo16.html#prettyPhoto" target="_blank">Learn more.</a> less

<b>Magnetic Carpet on the Sun</b>
Image: A 3D structure of the Sun's magnetic field lines, above and below the solar photosphere, which is shown as a horizontal surface. The color patches represent magnetic ... more

<b>How to Feed a Galaxy</b>
Created with the help of supercomputers, this still from a simulation shows the formation of a massive galaxy during the first 2 billion years of the universe. Hydrogen gas is gray, young stars appear blue, and older stars are red. The simulation reveals that gas flows into galaxies along filaments akin to cosmic bendy, or swirly, straws.
Jillian Bellovary of Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn.; Fabio Governato of the University of Washington, Seattle, and the University of Washington's N-Body Shop helped create the simulation. The work was conducted in part using the resources of the Advanced Computing Center for Research and Education at Vanderbilt University.
(You can see the video in the story below) less

<b>How to Feed a Galaxy</b>
Created with the help of supercomputers, this still from a simulation shows the formation of a massive galaxy during the first 2 billion years of the universe. Hydrogen gas is ... more

Photo: Video courtesy of the N-Body Shop at University of Washington

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<b>The Winds of Europe</b>
Europe owes much of its weather to prevailing winds known as the westerlies. These consistent breezes, created in part by the planet’s rotation, blow from the west, bringing rain and moisture from the Atlantic Ocean to the continent. They also influence the migration of clouds. Throughout the year, the winds carry clouds east above Europe's vegetated, and sometimes snow-covered, landscape.
Using a NASA supercomputer climate model called GEOS-5, scientists are able to simulate cloud movement over Europe and other parts of the world. Such models can help improve scientists' understanding of Earth's climate. In GEOS-5 simulations of Europe’s atmosphere, computer-generated clouds take on the appearance and motion of clouds imaged by Earth-observing satellites and astronauts aboard the International Space Station. Watch the video to see 21 days of simulated cloud changes across Europe.
<a href="http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011300/a011347/3858-540-MASTER_high.mp4" target="_blank">Watch the video</a> less

<b>The Winds of Europe</b>
Europe owes much of its weather to prevailing winds known as the westerlies. These consistent breezes, created in part by the planet’s rotation, blow from the west, bringing ... more

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<b>NASA Supercomputer Generates Closer Look at Future Climate Conditions in U.S.</b>
Top figure shows the average temperatures for springtime in 1950 across the United States, compared to the lower figure's projected average temperatures for the same season in 2099.
Using previously published large-scale climate model projections, a team of scientists from NASA, the Climate Analytics Group, Palo Alto, Calif., a non-profit that provides climate data services, and California State University, Monterey Bay, has released … climate projections for the coterminous United States at a scale of one half mile (800 meters), or approximately the size of a neighborhood. To generate these high-resolution climate projections, researchers used an innovative scientific collaboration platform called the NASA Earth Exchange (NEX), at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif.
<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/content/nasa-supercomputer-generates-closer-look-at-future-climate-conditions-in-us/#.Uo53HpE2Idv" target="_blank">Read more.</a> less

<b>NASA Supercomputer Generates Closer Look at Future Climate Conditions in U.S.</b>
Top figure shows the average temperatures for springtime in 1950 across the United States, compared to the lower figure's ... more

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<b>Modeling Hurricanes and Other High-Impact Weather Systems in High Resolution</b>
In this simulation, the lighter color indicates cool temperatures that correspond with the simulated vertical cloud structures shown in the other image. Both simulations were run using the Goddard Cumulus Ensemble model at 1 km horizontal resolution. The results compare well with observed rainfall.
Our simulations have provided unique and detailed insights into the dynamic and precipitation processes associated with the formation of clouds, cloud systems, and hurricanes. The simulations have also provided 4D datasets to NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission developers to improve the performance of their rainfall and latent heating algorithms. In addition, the simulated results have been archived into a cloud library website.
<a href="http://www.nas.nasa.gov/SC13/demos/demo14.html" target="_blank">Learn more.</a> less

<b>Modeling Hurricanes and Other High-Impact Weather Systems in High Resolution</b>
In this simulation, the lighter color indicates cool temperatures that correspond with the simulated vertical cloud ... more

Photo: Tim Sandstrom, NASA/Ames

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<b>Modeling Hurricanes and Other High-Impact Weather Systems in High Resolution</b>
Simulated clouds and cloud systems generated during the Tropical Warm Pool International Cloud Experiment—a major field campaign near Darwin, Australia, in January 2006. The image shows simulated vertical structures of cloud species consisting of cloud water, cloud ice, rain, snow, and graupel (soft hail).
Our simulations have provided unique and detailed insights into the dynamic and precipitation processes associated with the formation of clouds, cloud systems, and hurricanes. The simulations have also provided 4D datasets to NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission developers to improve the performance of their rainfall and latent heating algorithms. In addition, the simulated results have been archived into a cloud library website.
<a href="http://www.nas.nasa.gov/SC13/demos/demo14.html" target="_blank">Learn more.</a> less

<b>Modeling Hurricanes and Other High-Impact Weather Systems in High Resolution</b>
Simulated clouds and cloud systems generated during the Tropical Warm Pool International Cloud Experiment—a major field ... more

Photo: Tim Sandstrom, NASA/Ames

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<b>Understanding Our Planet's Evolving Ocean, Ice, Carbon, and Ecology</b>
Image: Wind stress in Pascals at the surface of the ocean. This animation is derived from a high-resolution numerical ocean simulation run by the Consortium for Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean (ECCO). Surface wind stress is one of the principal drivers of ocean circulation and is observed by NASA scatterometers and other satellite missions. In this case, wind stress is based on atmospheric conditions from the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) modified by surface temperature and currents at the ocean surface.
<a href="http://www.nas.nasa.gov/SC13/gallery.html#prettyPhoto[cat-planet]/3/" target="_blank">Watch the video.</a> less

<b>Understanding Our Planet's Evolving Ocean, Ice, Carbon, and Ecology</b>
Image: Wind stress in Pascals at the surface of the ocean. This animation is derived from a high-resolution numerical ocean ... more

<b>State-of-the-Art Galaxy Formation Simulations</b>
Image: Visualization showing an edge-on projection of gas density in the inner 14-kiloparsec (kpc) region of a simulated galaxy with a velocity dispersion of 50 kilometers per second. Dense clumps and filaments seen above the galactic plane are a clear indication of strong outflows. The rate of outflow measured through planes parallel to the disk at 5 kpc is comparable to the star formation rate (about three solar masses per year).
In contrast to conventional wisdom, our new simulations show that galaxies with very high redshifts (redshifts greater than 6) are not only dusty but contain a significant number of old stars. Our simulation results for these dusty galaxies show excellent agreement with observations from the Hubble Space Telescope in terms of stellar mass function, ultraviolet (UV) luminosity function, far-UV to near-UV color, optical to UV color, and other properties. In the near future, data from the Atacama Large Millimeter Array will also enable us to verify additional simulation predictions about the far-infrared properties of these high-redshift galaxies. less

<b>State-of-the-Art Galaxy Formation Simulations</b>
Image: Visualization showing an edge-on projection of gas density in the inner 14-kiloparsec (kpc) region of a simulated galaxy with a velocity ... more

Photo: Taysun Kimm, Princeton University

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<b>State-of-the-Art Galaxy Formation Simulations</b>
Image: A face-on projection of gas density for the same simulated galaxy shown in the previous image.

<b>State-of-the-Art Galaxy Formation Simulations</b>
Image: A face-on projection of gas density for the same simulated galaxy shown in the previous image.

Photo: Taysun Kimm, Princeton University

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<b>Kepler Lives On: It's All in the Data</b>
Image: Kepler's planet candidates: This relatively small patch of sky being observed is potentially teeming with planetary systems, with planets spanning a vast range of sizes compared to Earth.
As of November 2013, the Kepler team has found 3,548 planet candidates orbiting 2,165 host stars with 151 confirmed planets—an increase of 20% over the previous year. Among the latest findings:
The largest population increases are in Earth and super Earth-sized planet candidates, with over 1,700 planetary candidates close to the size of Earth.
At least one in five stars in the population has planet up to twice the size of Earth and orbiting within its star's habitable zone.
Four new planet candidates, each less than twice the size of Earth—and orbiting within the habitable zone—with one orbiting a Sun-like star.
43% of planet candidates are in multiple planet systems.
More exciting discoveries are expected as the Kepler SOC team continues to tease out weaker transit signals, associated with smaller planets, from the data.
<a href="http://www.nas.nasa.gov/SC13/demos/demo11.html#prettyPhoto" target="_blank">Learn more.</a> less

<b>Kepler Lives On: It's All in the Data</b>
Image: Kepler's planet candidates: This relatively small patch of sky being observed is potentially teeming with planetary systems, with planets spanning a vast ... more

Photo: Natalie Batalha, San Jose State University

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<b>Enabling a Quieter Approach for Aircraft Landing</b>
Image: Visualization of the simulated flow field for a Gulfstream aircraft in a high-lift configuration, showing the formation of vortex filaments and their roll-up into a single prominent vortex at each flap tip.
Our high-fidelity simulations have enabled us to probe into the underlying noise-generation mechanisms associated with flow over aircraft flaps and landing gear. The knowledge gained from these computations allowed us to develop and improve several concepts that reduce the noise generated by these components. We have demonstrated the effectiveness of these noise-reduction technologies, both numerically and through wind tunnel testing. We have also used our recent simulations to study complex gear-flap flow interactions for the first time and assess whether they produce undesirable noise.
<a href="http://www.nas.nasa.gov/SC13/demos/demo2.html" target="_blank">Learn More.</a>
<a href="http://www.nas.nasa.gov/SC13/gallery.html#prettyPhoto[cat-aero]/4/" target="_blank">Watch the video.</a> less

<b>Enabling a Quieter Approach for Aircraft Landing</b>
Image: Visualization of the simulated flow field for a Gulfstream aircraft in a high-lift configuration, showing the formation of vortex filaments and ... more

Photo: Raymond Mineck, NASA/Langley; Patrick Moran, NASA/Ames

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<b>Efficient Physics-Based Analysis and Design for Complex Aerospace Configurations</b>
Image: Adjoint-based mesh adaptation for simulation of a transport aircraft in a high-lift configuration. The adjoint approach implicitly targets areas of the domain that are critical to accurate lift predictions.
FUN3D is widely used to support major national research and engineering efforts, both within NASA and among groups across U.S. industry, the Department of Defense, and academia. A past collaboration with the Department of Energy received the prestigious Gordon Bell Prize, which recognizes outstanding achievements in high-performance computing. Key applications that FUN3D currently supports include:
NASA aeronautics research spanning fixed-wing applications, rotary-wing vehicles, and supersonic boom mitigation efforts.
Design and analysis of NASA's new Space Launch System.
Analysis of re-entry deceleration concepts, such as supersonic retro-propulsion and hypersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator systems, for NASA space missions.
Development of commercial crew spacecraft at companies such as SpaceX.
Timely analysis of vehicles and weapons systems for U.S. military efforts around the world.
Efficient green energy concept development, such as wind turbine design and drag minimization for long-haul trucking. less

<b>Efficient Physics-Based Analysis and Design for Complex Aerospace Configurations</b>
Image: Adjoint-based mesh adaptation for simulation of a transport aircraft in a high-lift configuration. The adjoint ... more

Photo: Elizabeth Lee-Rausch, Michael Park, NASA/Langley

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<b>Understanding Our Planet's Evolving Ocean, Ice, Carbon, and Ecology</b>
Ocean surface current speed from a high-resolution numerical ocean simulation. High spatial resolution is needed to accurately represent eddies, ocean depth (bathymetry), and eddy/bathymetry mediated processes such as: ocean heat and carbon balances; transport through narrow straits and fjords; and ocean biological production. All these processes vary in complex and interdependent ways in a continually changing climate.
The numerical reconstructions produced by ECCO and related projects have proved scientifically useful in a large number of oceanographic and interdisciplinary studies. Of specific recent interest are the study of interactions of ocean currents with sea ice and marine-terminating glaciers and the study of ocean ecology and biogeochemistry. For example, ECCO solutions have been used to study the possible impact of ocean currents on glacier acceleration around Greenland and Antarctica, to drive ocean ecology and fishery models, and to simulate the role of the ocean in the global carbon cycle.
<a href="http://www.nas.nasa.gov/SC13/demos/demo13.html#prettyPhoto" target="_blank">Learn more.</a> less

<b>Understanding Our Planet's Evolving Ocean, Ice, Carbon, and Ecology</b>
Image from a simulation showing ocean depth (bathymetry). The complex shape of the ocean bottom influences ocean circulation in fundamental ways that are difficult to represent in coarse-resolution numerical ocean simulations. Using computationally intensive models, together with remotely sensed and in situ data, is the only way we know to truly see how the planet is evolving globally in a consistent and comprehensive way.
The numerical reconstructions produced by ECCO and related projects have proved scientifically useful in a large number of oceanographic and interdisciplinary studies. Of specific recent interest are the study of interactions of ocean currents with sea ice and marine-terminating glaciers and the study of ocean ecology and biogeochemistry. For example, ECCO solutions have been used to study the possible impact of ocean currents on glacier acceleration around Greenland and Antarctica, to drive ocean ecology and fishery models, and to simulate the role of the ocean in the global carbon cycle.
<a href="http://www.nas.nasa.gov/SC13/demos/demo13.html#prettyPhoto" target="_blank">Learn more.</a> less

<b>Computational Fluid Dynamics Support for Space Launch Vehicles</b>
Image: High-fidelity simulation of acoustic phenomena in a cold jet in laboratory conditions. The visualization shows isocontours of flow vorticity in grey and pressure contours in red and blue.
CFD simulation results have been used during two design analysis cycles of the Space Launch System. Launch environment analyses have contributed to the redesign of the launch pad to support heavy-lift vehicles. CFD simulations are an efficient source of critical design data due to the quick turnaround times and minimal cost to produce results for a large number aerodynamic performance databases and pad configurations.
<a href="http://www.nas.nasa.gov/SC13/demos/demo5.html" target="_blank">Learn more.</a>
<a href="http://www.nas.nasa.gov/SC13/gallery.html#prettyPhoto[cat-space]/4/" target="_blank">Watch the video</a> less

<b>Computational Fluid Dynamics Support for Space Launch Vehicles</b>
Image: High-fidelity simulation of acoustic phenomena in a cold jet in laboratory conditions. The visualization shows isocontours of ... more

Photo: Christoph Brehm, Michael Barad, NASA/Ames

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<b>Formation of Massive Stars from Giant, Turbulent Molecular Clouds</b>
Density volume rendering of an isolated, magnetized, supersonically turbulent core 20,000 years after the formation of the central high-mass protostar. This turbulent core is representative of the dense cores formed in the region shown in the expanded portion of the figure above. A powerful outflow is ejected from the central 25 M⊙ star, as shown by the red bipolar structure, which represents gas moving outward faster than 10 km/s.
Our work supports NASA's goals to understand the origins of stars and galaxies in our universe. Our simulations show how massive, magnetized, infrared dark turbulent clouds collapse gravitationally to form turbulent filaments, which fragment into star-forming cores. These simulations are the first to include feedback from magnetic fields, radiation, and outflows, and to be evolved far enough to show the fragmentation properties of the bulk of the gas in the core. Results show that the coupled effects of magnetic fields and radiative feedback strongly suppress core fragmentation, leading to the production of single massive star systems rather than small stellar clusters.
<a href="http://www.nas.nasa.gov/SC13/demos/demo12.html#prettyPhoto" target="_blank">Learn more.</a>
<a href="http://www.nas.nasa.gov/SC13/gallery.html#prettyPhoto[cat-universe]/5/" target="_blank">Watch video.</a> less

<b>Formation of Massive Stars from Giant, Turbulent Molecular Clouds</b>
Density volume rendering of an isolated, magnetized, supersonically turbulent core 20,000 years after the formation of the central ... more

<b>Formation of Massive Stars from Giant, Turbulent Molecular Clouds</b>
Density volume rendering of gas filaments formed in an infrared dark cloud (IRDC) simulation, 800,000 years after the region began gravitational collapse. The main filament (top) is about 4.5 parsecs in length and equivalent to about 660 solar masses (M⊙). The global magnetic field is represented along the z-axis. An expanded portion of the IRDC (bottom) shows the streamlines of the magnetic field piercing through the IRDC, with red dots representing the dense cores.
Our work supports NASA's goals to understand the origins of stars and galaxies in our universe. Our simulations show how massive, magnetized, infrared dark turbulent clouds collapse gravitationally to form turbulent filaments, which fragment into star-forming cores. These simulations are the first to include feedback from magnetic fields, radiation, and outflows, and to be evolved far enough to show the fragmentation properties of the bulk of the gas in the core. Results show that the coupled effects of magnetic fields and radiative feedback strongly suppress core fragmentation, leading to the production of single massive star systems rather than small stellar clusters.
<a href="http://www.nas.nasa.gov/SC13/demos/demo12.html#prettyPhoto" target="_blank">Learn more.</a>
<a href="http://www.nas.nasa.gov/SC13/gallery.html#prettyPhoto[cat-universe]/5/" target="_blank">Watch video.</a> less

<b>Formation of Massive Stars from Giant, Turbulent Molecular Clouds</b>
Density volume rendering of gas filaments formed in an infrared dark cloud (IRDC) simulation, 800,000 years after the region began ... more

Photo: Pak Shing Li, University of California, Berkeley

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<b>Formation of Massive Stars from Giant, Turbulent Molecular Clouds</b>
A giant, filamentary, infrared dark molecular cloud, 4.5 parsecs long, formed in a large-scale magnetohydrodynamic turbulence simulation using the ORION2 adaptive mesh refinement code. The animation shows the complex density structure of the filament at 800,000 years after the region began gravitational collapse. The volume rendering is in the density range of n(H) = 10^4 ~ 10^8 cm^-3 (blue ~ red).
<a href="http://www.nas.nasa.gov/SC13/gallery.html#prettyPhoto[cat-universe]/4/" target="_blank">Watch the video</a>
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<b>Our Nearest Star: The Enigmatic Sun</b>
Simulations of global Sun convection. The distribution of radial plasma velocity at a depth of 40,000 kilometers reveals large-scale, banana-shaped convective cells. These cells are responsible for the faster rotation of low-latitude zones of the Sun (differential rotation). The differential rotation stretches and amplifies the magnetic field, which emerges on the surface, forms sunspots, and produces the eruptions of hot solar plasma known as coronal mass ejections.
Realistic multi-scale simulations are extremely important for probing the complicated physics of the turbulent convection zone and atmosphere of the Sun. Interpreting the dynamics of this zone is critical to understanding phenomena such as solar differential rotation, meridional circulation, solar magnetic field generation by dynamo, and the formation and activity of magnetic regions on the Sun. The dynamics change dramatically in magnetic field regions, causing plasma eruptions and magnetic energy release events. Supercomputer simulations have provided critical data for analyzing and interpreting observations from NASA's solar space missions—the Solar & Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS), the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), and the Hinode Observatory. In particular, realistic numerical simulations provide important insights into the origin of solar differential rotation and dynamo, the multi-scale nature of solar convection (in both the quiet areas of the Sun and in magnetic regions), the formation and dynamics of magnetic flux tubes, the structure of sunspots, the excitation of solar oscillations, and other solar dynamics problems.
<a href="http://www.nas.nasa.gov/SC13/demos/demo17.html#prettyPhoto" target="_blank">Learn more.</a> less

<b>Our Nearest Star: The Enigmatic Sun</b>
Coronal mass ejection observed by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), in extreme ultraviolet radiation emitted by ionized helium atoms heated to 80,000 Kelvin. The eruption is caused by a magnetic field that was generated by a dynamo process beneath the visible surface of the Sun.
Realistic multi-scale simulations are extremely important for probing the complicated physics of the turbulent convection zone and atmosphere of the Sun. Interpreting the dynamics of this zone is critical to understanding phenomena such as solar differential rotation, meridional circulation, solar magnetic field generation by dynamo, and the formation and activity of magnetic regions on the Sun. The dynamics change dramatically in magnetic field regions, causing plasma eruptions and magnetic energy release events. Supercomputer simulations have provided critical data for analyzing and interpreting observations from NASA's solar space missions—the Solar & Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS), the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), and the Hinode Observatory. In particular, realistic numerical simulations provide important insights into the origin of solar differential rotation and dynamo, the multi-scale nature of solar convection (in both the quiet areas of the Sun and in magnetic regions), the formation and dynamics of magnetic flux tubes, the structure of sunspots, the excitation of solar oscillations, and other solar dynamics problems.
<a href="http://www.nas.nasa.gov/SC13/demos/demo17.html#prettyPhoto" target="_blank">Learn more.</a> less